So What is Pinterest Anyway?

This is a question we’re getting a lot – from clients, friends, family (my Mom asked me to find some table decorating ideas on Pinterest for our Easter dinner table just this weekend ) you name it…and with the news last week that Pinterest is now the third largest social networking site in the US, we’re betting that people will soon be adding it to the Marketing Mix (more on that later).

So…what is Pinterest? How do you explain it to people who have never been on it before?

As I was scrolling through my followers’ pins yesterday, it hit me: Pinterest is akin to that real world moment when you walk into a friend’s house for the first time, to attend a dinner party, and you see:

The hostess’s outfit – from her perfectly coifed hair, to her funky earrings, to her gorgeous dress

You then get a tour of her house, where you ooh and ahh at her bedroom furniture, you marvel at the clever way she sectioned off the children’s play area from the exercise equipment in the family room, and cringe at the gaudy pattern on her curtains. These all become snapshots in your mind – you’ll replicate some of her ideas, you’ll be shocked at others, but either way, you’ll have a great time looking through someone else’s life – her interests.

Pinterest is a way to digitally, visually compile all those “That’s clever!” or “This is delicious!” or “Why didn’t I think of that but I’m glad I know now!” moments from that dinner party and beyond – those exchanges between friends, family, acquaintances (and sometimes even strangers) that make up daily human interaction. Snapshots of life, organized, ranked, and commented on…by you. No wonder it’s number three already.